This week I’ve been planting up pots to bring some much needed vibrant summer colour to the garden. Shrubs, cacti and succulents make a great low-maintenance backdrop, but the displays of annuals really make the garden pop with colour.

I usually go to the garden centre and select a range of annuals but this year, thanks to a seed obsession, I attempted to grow all my own plants. However, unlike the garden centre, I lost the plot and have no idea of the colour or variety so it’s become a lucky dip. The other issue is that the seeds germinate at different times or not at all, so not all the plants are ready. Next year, I will take a more organised approach, label everything and be more mindful on predicted germination times!

My method of planting containers may differ to many of my fellow gardeners as I plant in a plastic liner pot rather than directly into the container. The benefits of this are threefold.
1. I can remove the plastic insert as and when so I can rotate between winter, spring and summer displays.
2. Using an insert prevents root damage to bulbous shaped pots
3. The insert acts as insulation so the soil does not dry out as quickly.

1. Ali Baba Pot

I love this pot! I had been admiring them for several years and one day I dug deep into the purse, bought one and had it delivered. We filled the bottom half with gravel for stability and use a plastic pot as the planting receptacle. If there is one thing I have learned with gardening NEVER plant directly into bulbous shaped pots.

I am unsure if this colour combination will work. The red Dipladenia and my homegrown Petunias are hardly a striking combination. The red, to my critical eye, is not enough contrast to the terracotta and the trailing Petunias grown from seed are NOT trailing (at least I don’t think so).

Ali Baba terracotta pot

Ali Baba August 2018… The Petunias trailed to the ground.

Ali Baba pot 2017

2. Potty About Petunias

When I planted two packets of mixed coloured petunia seeds, trailing and bush, I had no idea they would all survive. And… I can’t kill plants. (not intentionally). Unfortunately, over time and while pricking out the seedlings I mixed up the varieties so it’s now pot luck as to what I’ve planted.

The displays are not that exciting as I am trying to utilise the plants I have rather than buying even more.

Petunias in PotGrowing Petunias in containers

and I’m still left with

Petunias ready for planting on

and

Petunia seedlings

and even more! I am surprised they’re not growing out of my ears.

Hopefully, once I can establish which are trailers or bush petunias, I will find someone to adopt some of them.

3. Gin Corner

I jokingly nicknamed this area the Gin Corner as last year I included two chairs and a small table. Gin corners were all the rage in the U.K. (apparently)

Black planters May 4th 2019Black planters June 2nd 2018

4. Nasturtiums – an Edible Display

The Nasturtium seeds planted on the 27th of February have finally started to flower. I’ve already started adding some of the leaves to salads so not long before I will include the flowers, too.

Nasturtiums grow well in pots

5. Succulent Display

I love the colour combination of these succulents, and the open shallow terracotta dish works well to showcase the plants.

Succulent displayed in a shallow pot

6. Tumbling Terracotta Pots

What a wonderful way to display plants in a restricted space! We happened upon this idea in the garden of a cafe restaurant near Milfontes in the Alentejo. Intrigued, we studied the construction, bought the pots and made our own version. I will post a ‘How To’ in a separate post. I still need to buy one more plant as the one I originally purchased does not like afternoon sun. A good excuse to visit the garden centre!

What a wonderful large pot! Alas, my purse is much too shallow to dig very deep into. Plus, I’d be afraid it would crack some winter when we had unseasonably cold weather. So far my cheap terra-cotta has been fine, but spend a lot and the weather would dip!
I am not a petunia person, but yours are so pretty.
Those stacked pots were all the rage in the US last summer, where the garden centers had classes about building them. Your succulents make sense, the classes often used plants that looks pretty at first, but the pots dry out so fast and are small, so before long they looked terrible.

I was never a petunia person until last year. I always grew geraniums because they don’t need a lot of water… but then I lost the whole lot when they were attacked by a moth which bores a hole into the stem and lays eggs. the geraniums die.

You are right about the stacked pots drying out.. I was originally going to plant with annuals until I observed how quickly the soil was drying out. I still need to water the succulents every few days, though

Amazing the tumbling terracotta pots ! I’m looking forlward to seeing how you did it…
I also liked Alibaba, of course. Like you, we learn from our mistakes. I planted a spathiphyllum in a bulbous pot to give it to my mother about 20 years ago. I had to break it several years later to divide it because I couldnt dig up the plant.

The only way I released my hydrangeas from a bulbous pot was to lay the pot on its side on a blanket and then hosed out the earth with water and a fine stick. a Lot of patience. It worked and both pots and plants survived.

Nice tippy pot. Frances Tophill did one on Gardeners World last year. Good way to gain space for more pots and more pots means more plants! Lovely succulent displays. I’d like more but so far stuck to the most reliably hardy varieties as don’t have room to bring lots in and out.https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06fwczt

Everything is looking so good in your garden. Had to laugh at you forgetting what seedlings were what, in terms of colour – haven’t we all had that happen? Your succulent tray is really fetching. And those tumbling pots . . . can’t figure it out, so look forward to your post.

Oh I love the tumbling pots what a great idea, I eagerly await instructions. Pot liners is a brilliant idea. I wish I had done that with an agapanthus that needed splitting. The roots had wrapped themselves so tight around the pot it had to be smashed to release the plant 😒

Hanging baskets are a good way of spreading colour and you can put them at eyes height so people spot them straight away, the good thing is you can also hang were plants that need a lot of sun or shadow inside or out side just an idea have a good one and your gardens look stunning well done.